Tuesday 12 March 2024

Shoreham (25 February-12 March 2024)

Sunday 25 February. Shoreham Fort with Megan and Cookie: Eider 1 immature male.

Monday 26 February. Buckingham Park with Megan and Cookie: Goldfinch 7.

Tuesday 27 February. Mill Hill with Megan and Cookie: Buzzard 1, Skylark 2, Goldcrest 2, Linnet 3.

Wednesday 28 February. River Adur/Rec with Cookie: Teal 4, Little Grebe 1, Oystercatcher 6, Lapwing 8, Grey Plover 3, Redshank 8, Great Black-backed Gull 30, Peregrine 1, Skylark 1, Meadow Pipit 2, Chaffinch 1.

Friday 01 March. River Adur with Cookie in heavy rain: Grey Plover 1, Great Black-backed Gull 57 including Normandie colour-ringed 41 D.

Great Black-backed Gull 41D
Saturday 02 March. Brooklands with Megan and Cookie: Little Grebe 5, Cetti's Warbler heard.

Sunday 03 March. Widewater: Mute Swan 27, Little Grebe 1, Great Crested Grebe 2 on sea, Brent Goose 7 E. Adur: Grey Plover 2, Curlew 1, Dunlin 2, Buzzard 1. Crown Road: Sparrowhawk 1.

Wednesday 06 MarchShoreham Fort with Megan and Cookie: Turnstone 3.

Thursday 07 March. Widewater 07:40-09:10, light E, clear: Brent Goose 37 E, Mute Swan 24 on lagoon, Pintail 2 E, Little Grebe 2 on lagoon, Great Crested Grebe 1 on sea, Oystercatcher 2 E, Curlew 4 E, Turnstone 3 on beach, Black-headed Gull 25 E, Red-throated Diver 1 on sea. Mill Hill with Megan and Cookie: Buzzard 2, Skylark 4, Goldcrest 2, Chaffinch 2, Linnet 11, Goldfinch 8. Sullington Way: Ring-necked Parakeet 1 male.

male Ring-necked Parakeet by Sullington Way bus stop

Friday 08 MarchWidewater 07:20-09:10, moderate E, hazy: Mute Swan 19 on lagoon, Shelduck 2 E, Great Crested Grebe 8 on sea, Turnstone 2 on beach, Dunlin 5 on beach, Mediterranean Gull 1 adult W, Red-throated Diver 5 on sea & 2 E & 1W, Fulmar 1 E (twice), Gannet 2 E. Town Quay and Adur (afternoon low tide visit): Teal 2, Little Grebe 2, Grey Plover 2, Ringed Plover 1, Dunlin 22, Greenshank 1, Redshank 10, Kestrel 1. Sullington Way: Lord Derby's Parakeet 1 female.

Greenshank and Redshank from Town Quay
Lord Derby's Parakeet by Sullington Way bus stop

Saturday 09 MarchWidewater 07:10-09:30, moderate SE, cold & clear: Brent Goose 198 E, Mute Swan 2 juveniles E & 16 on lagoon, Pintail 8 E, Common Scoter 3 E, Red-breasted Merganser 2 (male & female) flew in from E landed on sea then departed E, Great Crested Grebe 1 on sea &1 E, Oystercatcher 1 E, Curlew 1 E, Dunlin 4 E, Kittiwake 3 E, Black-headed Gull 12 E, Common Gull 17 E (mostly first-winters), Sandwich Tern 4 E, Red-throated Diver 13 E & 2 W, Fulmar 1 E then W, Gannet 40+ off-shore and E. Lancing Ring with Megan and Cookie: Red Kite 2, Skylark 6, Greenfinch 2, Goldfinch 3, Corn Bunting 5, Reed Bunting 1. Sullington Way: Lord Derby's Parakeet 1 female, Ring-necked Parakeet 1 male.

Brent Geese passing Widewater

Sunday 10 March. Shoreham Fort with Cookie:  Eider 1 immature male, Turnstone 3, Purple Sandpiper 1. Adur Saltings: Teal 16, Grey Plover 1, Curlew 2, Turnstone 14, Common Snipe 72+, Redshank 30, Greenshank 1, Scandinavian Rock Pipit 2.

immature male Eider at Harbour Way

Turnstones and Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham Harbour

Scandinavian Rock Pipits on the Adur Saltings

approaching a spring high tide at the Adur Saltings

Common Snipe, Grey Plover, Redshank and Greenshank on the Adur Saltings

Monday 11 March. Shoreham Fort with Megan and Cookie: Great Crested Grebe 1, Turnstone 1, Chiffchaff heard, Meadow Pipit 14 N, Goldfinch 4.

Turnstone at Shoreham Harbour
missing one foot although it seemed to be managing


Sunday 10 March 2024

PANAMA 02-23 February 2024 taster

I was in Panama from 02-23 February, on a birding trip with Nick Preston, Paul Noakes and Barry Wright (excellent travelling companions). We were very capably led by Euclides "Kilo" Campos who was all round brilliant. It was a tough trip, mainly due to the very rugged terrain in Eastern Panama where we spent most time, but I survived. I'll produce several detailed blogs in due course but despite having been back for over two weeks I'm nowhere close to sorting out my photos (although so far have cut them down from almost 4000 to 500). I've still Birding Down Under blogs to complete too.

Here are a few of the Panamanian highlights I managed to take photos of. Paul and Barry would have done much much better with top of the range Canon and Olympus kit. I was using a Sony RX10 bridge camera I'd only had for a couple of weeks and a lot of the time it showed.

White-throated Mountaingem at Cerro Punto, a hummingbird endemic to the western Panamanian mountains
male Blue Cotinga at Nusagandi
Grey-cheeked Nunlet at Rio Torti

Crested Owl at Cerro Chucanti
Tody Motmot at Cerro Chucanti
Dusky-backed Jacamars near Metiti
Crested Eagle near Rancho Frio, Darien National Park
Wing-banded Antbird near Rancho Plastico in Darien National Park
Black-crowned Pittasoma above Rancho Frio, Darien National Park, my bird of the trip
Agami Heron near Rancho Frio, Darien National PArk
Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant near Rancho Frio
Barred Puffbirds in Saint Frances Reserve near Rio Torti

Black-crowned Antpitta at Nusagandi, a close Bird of the Trip runner up


Wednesday 31 January 2024

Local Goldeneye, Purple Sandpiper and Greenshank (21-31 January 2024)

Sunday 21 January. Southwick Canal with Megan and a poorly Cookie: Cormorant 10, Stonechat 2 (male and female).

Tuesday 23 January. Buckingham Park with Megan and Cookie: Jackdaw 125.

Wednesday 25 January. Brooklands with Megan and Cookie on the way back from another vet visit: Teal 5, Goldeneye 1, Little Grebe 2, Jay 1, Cetti's Warbler 1 heard.

Goldeneye still at Brooklands

Thursday 25 January. Southwick Canal with Megan and Cookie: Little Grebe 1, Kittiwake 1 adult (flew low east up the canal), Great Northern Diver 2, Shag 1, Stonechat 1 female.

immature Great Northern Diver at Southwick Canal


both Great Northern Divers
Shag at Southwick Canal

Friday 26 January. Widewater with Cookie, Great Crested Grebe 1 W, Guillemot 1 W (close), Razorbill 2 W (fairly close), unidentified auk 14 E, Red-throated Diver 21 E, 5 W & 7 on sea, unidentified diver (no reason to suspect not Red-throated) 9 E, 1 W, Raven 4 E (high over lagoon). Dusk visit to Monarch's Way west of Steyning with David Buckingham: Woodcook 1, Buzzard 2+, Tawny Owl male and female heard, Merlin 1, Fieldfare 90, Redwing 30, Corn Bunting 5.

Saturday 27 January. Lancing Ring with Megan and Cookie: Sparrowhawk 1, Buzzard 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 heard drumming,  Kestrel 1, Jay 1, Long-tailed Tit 3, Redwing 1, Stonechat 1, Meadow Pipit 4, Linnet 15, Reed Bunting 2.

Sunday 28 January. Shoreham Fort with Cookie: Turnstone 5, Purple Sandpiper 1, Red-throated Diver 42 E: 2 W, Rock Pipit 1.

Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham Harbour West Arm



Monday 29 January. Adur with Megan and Cookie in thick fog: Lapwing 102, Dunlin 45, mystery bird 1 S. At dusk the female Lord Derby's and male Ring-necked Parakeets were above the Sullington Way bus stop prior to roosting.

Tuesday 30 January. Adur (Old Toll Bridge-Coronation Green-Saltings-Dogs Trust-Airport circuit on a rising tide and with an improving Cookie: Teal 31, Little Grebe 1, Lapwing 127, Grey Plover 1, Curlew 1, Dunlin 5, Redshank 10+, Greenshank 1, Great Black-backed Gull 51,  Lesser Black-backed Gull 7, Little Egret 1. Later Stock Dove in our garden.

Greenshank in the Houseboat Channel
I first saw it wintering here in November 2015


Wednesday 31 January. Mill Hill with Megan and Cookie (bouncing back as much as a 15 year old can although her prognosis isn't good, not an ideal time for me to be flying to Panama for a twice postponed trip): Buzzard 2, Kestrel 1, Linnet 1.

Sunday 28 January 2024

Birding Down Under part 5: Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island (10 December 2023)


Sunday 10 December. Today would be penguin day. At dawn we were off the sheltered eastern side of Macquarie Island. Despite being a small barely inhabited island 1500km SE of Tasmania and 1200km south of Bluff (our departure/return port) we needed Australian visas and strict biodiversity supervision of our time there. Although this was made available from 07:00 Macquarie time, that was 2 hours behind New Zealand/ship's time. It was frustrating to be sat offshore waiting to land although we saw a few birds and watched the zodiacs being lowered from the deck. Once boarded we zodiac cruised a short way along the coast to an Eastern Rockhopper Penguin colony. Jonathan Rossouw was our driver on this occasion and a bit further along the coast he spotted a small group of Gentoo Penguins on the beach. Views weren't great for photography as the swell kept us at a distance and I failed to keep the birds in frame. We wet landed in Sandy Bay which was covered with King and Royal Penguins and Elephant Seals. Four new penguins in less than an hour! Our morning with the penguins at Sandy Bay was truly amazing, one of my best mornings ever. I reluctantly returned for lunch and would have stayed if it had been allowed even though we would be returning for the afternoon. It was more of the same, with slightly better Gentoo Penguin views on the way, but I was reluctant to leave after our second visit too and was one of the last off. Macquarie was somewhere I'd wanted to visit for many years, I had great expectations and it easily exceeded them. Absolute wow! Back on board there was time for some seawatching before dusk as we slowly followed the coast south. Birds I saw, with penguin numbers being wild guesses, were Kelp Gull 30, Brown Skua 15, King Penguin 5000+, Gentoo Penguin 9, Royal Penguin 30000+, Southern Rockhopper Penguin 200+, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross 7, Black-browed Albatross 4, Grey-headed Albatross 1, Southern Giant Petrel 5, Northern Giant Petrel 10, Blue Petrel 1, Antarctic Prion 50, White-headed Petrel 3, Soft-plumaged Petrel 7, Sooty Shearwater 3, Cormorant 1, Macquarie Shag 9 and Lesser Redpoll 3. We also saw a pod of at least 8 Orcas patrolling a little way offshore although they were distant and only surfaced occasionally.

Photos taken from Heritage Adventurer before leaving for Macquarie:

Southern Giant Petrel off Macquarie Island
white morph Southern Giant Petrels are much easier to identify
Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses off Macquarie Island

Photos taken during our morning visit to Sandy Bay:

Eastern Rockhopper Penguins near Sandy Bay
the sea and rocks didn't allow a closer zodiac approach
 Macquarie Shags near Sandy Bay
King Penguins and Elephant Seals on the beach at Sandy Bay












Kelp Gull at Sandy Bay
Paul at Sandy Bay
Sandy Bay
Royal Penguins at Sandy Bay




that's a nice looking pebble

Royal Penguins heading for the sea while Elephant Seals sleep
Brown Skua and me at the Royal Penguin colony

Royal Penguin colony, up a boardwalk about 500m from the beach
too many to count



lots of comings and goings along the edge of the colony
lots of arguments in it



so much going on it was hard to know where to look
penguins returning to the sea






boy band rehearsals


it's big boys only here





Elephant Seals on the beach

all too soon our first visit was over

Photos taken during our afternoon visit to Sandy Bay:

Gentoo Penguin from an unstable zodiac on the way, my only image showing the whole bird
King Penguins welcoming us back with their dance routine



more Royal Penguins, definitely my favourite

back at the Royal Penguin colony and I'm still too overwhelmed to estimate numbers

plenty of large chicks despite attentions of marauding skuas and giant petrels



Brown Skua
Southern Giant Petrel chick
returning to the beach from the Royal Penguin colony
Nick back on the beach
me too, but still time for a few more penguin photos



strange encounter
my bird of the trip, though any inquisitive Royal would do



Macquarie Island from the Heritage Adventurer as the light faded and the weather closed in